Campaigners fighting for balance in the avocado monoculture projects that have surrounded homes north of Lagos in the last few years claim the vital public participation process underway is flawed.
“We have realised that the number of people registered on the ‘participa.pt’ page is the same, even though we know a lot more people have signed on with their objections”, said a member of the local group Regenerarte.
“We have been in touch with the page, and they tell us that if people do not receive email confirmation that their comments have been registered, they most likely haven’t…”
“It’s something that has really worried us. We know quite a number of people have taken the time to register their positions, but the number of recorded participations remains always the same…”
“It’s all about the very last part. If the screen says “Aguarde…” and nothing else happens (and no confirmation email arrives) then the comments won’t be counted”.
Regenerate is thus asking everyone who has signed up to the exercise to go back and check their comments are indeed online.
The page to access can be found here
The public participation on this issue – which comes long after all the trees have been planted (click here) – closes on January 26.
